Friday, 10 March 2017

Fur For Animals - Initial animations


In the opening scene of the video, a mink walks into the woods. Rather than to tediously animate the mink's body parts, the environment pans across giving the illusion of movement. This reduces the time needed to animate and lessens possible complications. With the pan motion, a simple gif of the mink is necessary to give the illusion of its movement.

Showing this initial animation to the group, there were suggestions to add movement to the flora in the background and foreground, adding realism to the animation which provides and engaging watching experience.



Following the comments made on the first scene, the background flora now have occasional movement. Too much and it would detract attention from the moving mink. Kieran produced a gif of the mink walking which does create the illusion of movement from the mink itself. 

To help create a transition into the next scene, a tree pans across dragging a dark filter in attempt to create a more natural transition into the dark environment of the fur trade farms. Once the bars come down, the mink changes into just depictions of eyes. This is an illustrative choice aimed to create a more informal and artistic art direction for the video. By just showing the eyes, it simplifies the composition which effectively focuses the scene onto the living conditions of these minks. To have the cage include a full mink inside would require more complicated animation that may reduce the communication of the message. A simpler art direction allows the story of the video to be highlighted rather than the actual animation.

The dark background of this scene communicates a negative atmosphere where these minks are kept in the industry. Combined with the eerie footsteps, dripping of water and occasional door shuts, it creates an unsettling atmosphere for the viewer.

Giving this animation to feedback, there were several comments made for improvements.

  • The mink in the first scene needs to be made larger as the background illustrations take the focus away from the mink, lessening the videos ability to maintain the viewers attention. 
  • The initial idea to have the tree be used a as a transitional tool was criticised for being too overwhelming for the video's visuals. Its size and placement on screen takes far too much attention away from the mink and doesn't blend in with the overall art direction. What was suggested was the addition of several trees along the path the mink walks. As it walks deeper into the woods, the surroundings become darker, transitioning into the next scene.
  • As the bars shrink to give viewers an idea of the cage's size in real life, the fading mink doesn't effectively that they live in these cramped conditions. The mink should stay the same size for longer, allowing the cage to form around it, before it changes to eyes. 

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